Marymount School hosted a 3-day, 3-sport international tournament attracting athletes from around the world and showcasing talent, teamwork, and sportsmanship in futbol, basketball, and volleyball.

From May 16-18 TCS, Montessori, Theodoro Hertzl, and Cumbres along with international schools such as Marymount Roma and Cuernavaca Mexico sent a selection of athletes from different sports in order to compete and showcase their skills in all three disciplines.

“The performance was excellent. We competed on Monday in volleyball, Tuesday in soccer, and Wednesday in basketball,” Urbano Mesa, High School Soccer Coach, said.

All 5 schools had to take 10 athletes from their preferred choice that would play 3 days, 7 games per day. The TCS selected 6 football players, mainly from 10th grade, 2 volleyball players, and the other 2 from basketball.  

“It was a huge learning experience. The chemistry between different players and their respective sports began as the problem, but throughout the games, the athletes began to develop an understanding with each other and get a feel for how the best in the team played, how to position in the field, and what were some basic rules,” Mesa said.

Participants spoke about the physical and mental demands they faced, sharing that football and basketball were the sports that posed greater challenges. Football players were required to play in a small 5-men field while the balanced competition and certain great players in basketball were described by the athletes as an obstacle.

“It was difficult to play in that small field when we are used to playing in way bigger fields here in school. Apart from that the most challenging sport was basketball because of the fierce competition and the vast majority of soccer players in our team that didn’t know much of the rules and techniques,” Martin Vasquez, Grade 11, said.

The final in volleyball was against Cumbres, while in basketball, the TCS had to battle it out against Montessori. In Football, the boys lost the semifinals against Montessori but gained a third place by winning against Marymount Rome.

“Even though we most definitely dominated in volleyball I think that our biggest win in the tournament was in basketball because the other teams were generally more balanced and had 2 to 3 great players that made it difficult to reach and win the final against Montessori,” Pedro Abad, Grade 10, said.

Since the TCS sent 6 football players for a 5-men field almost all games were played by these athletes. However, Coache’s strategy varied in basketball and volleyball. The idea was that the 2 specialists in the sport played alongside a mix of the other athletes but that only happened in the volley category because the next day neither of the 2 volley players were available.

“It was challenging and helpful depending on the sport, for example, when we played volleyball I just passed the ball to David Fajardo, who’s the best at the sport, and the one who usually made the point. Things changed when we played basketball, that role passed on to me and I had to do almost everything,” Tomas Galeano, Grade 11, said.

According to participants, playing against schools from around the world brings distinct playing styles and strategies to the field, fostering an environment of mutual respect, learning, and growth.

“Getting to know other cultures and their playstyles is certainly an enriching experience. I was even talking to Freddy Badillo, the director of the sports department, to copy the idea and maybe one day we will have a similar tournament,” Mesa said.